Tyler Perry Accuser Derek Dixon Says He Locked Himself in a Bathroom to Hide From the Director

Actor Derek Dixon sat down with ABC News for the first time, two months after filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against Tyler Perry. The filmmaker's accuser filed a $260 million lawsuit against Perry, alleging that the director created a "coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic," while Dixon was starring on The Oval and Ruthless.

Matthew Boyd, an attorney representing Perry, denied the allegations against his client, reports The Guardian. "This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam," said Boyd. "But Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail." What did Dixon have to say? Here is the latest update.

In an interview with ABC News Live anchor Linsey Davis, Dixon said he didn't want to stay silent anymore, adding that this was a "vulnerable thing to talk about." He revealed that things have been hard for him. "There's a lot of shame around it," said Dixon. "Just trying to think what you could have done better and having to deal with the judgment of how you could've ended it better without being in that situation."

Dixon was asked about the early days of his working relationship with Perry, which included buying the actor a new car. "He saw my Jeep around the studio and said, 'That's not a great car.'" Initially Perry's communication with Dixon didn't feel "dangerous," though at times it did give him pause.

The lawsuit includes text messages Perry allegedly sent to Dixon, many of which are flirtatious or even sexual in nature. At one point, Perry allegedly asked the actor, "What's it going to take for you to have guiltless sex? Have y'all found that in therapy yet? I would hope that you would let someone hold and make love to you." Dixon said he always responded with a joke in an attempt to deescalate the situation.

In January 2020, Dixon alleges that the unwanted attention jumped from text messages to something physical. As Dixon tells it, he and Perry were at Perry's house one night, having drinks in his guest house, when Perry told the actor he could crash there for the night. "I got into bed," explained Dixon, "and then I noticed he climbed into bed with me as well and started rubbing my leg." At that point, Dixon said he leapt out of bed and was told by Perry to turn around so he could look at him.

After commenting on Dixon's physical appearance, Perry got up and left. "I thought after that instance it was pretty clear that I was not interested in that type of relationship," said Dixon. The actor went on to say that trying to make a move is fine, but if that doesn't stop after a person is rejected, that's a problem. "It didn't," he said.

At the end of the second season of The Oval, Dixon's character gets shot four times, which was concerning for reasons not related to working. In the lawsuit, Dixon alleges that Perry made it clear that he would "kill off Mr. Dixon's character if he did not indulge Mr. Perry's sexual harassment."

In June 2021, Dixon was at Perry's home near Atlanta, where the two were again having drinks, when the actor said he noticed Perry had something called a health monitor scale. The director allegedly told him that in order to use it, you have to be in your underwear. Dixon alleges that Perry pulled down his underwear and grabbed his buttocks. The actor repeatedly told Perry to stop, but the director allegedly kept going. Dixon ultimately locked himself in a bathroom to get away from Perry.